19/05/2009. Purchase College at SUNY, School of the Arts,Conservatory of Music - Recital Hall.

This poem refers to the Asphodel Meadows - is

a section of the Ancient Greek underworld

where indifferent and ordinary souls were sent

to live after death; souls of people who lived

lives of near equal good and evil rested. It was

a plain of asphodele flowers, which were the

favorite food of the Greek dead.

Les pâles pistils The pale pistilsfêcondés impregnated de mornes chants d’éternité, by the gloomy songs of eternity,se meurent et s’étalent die and spreadquand les abeilles annonantes when the rumbling beesde leur plaine se font les chantres of their field become the voicespour les pleurs d’un pétale. for the tears of a petal.Se forme un ballet d’étamines They form into a ballet of stamenqui s’affole et se termine that spins and finishes
dans une blancheur d’aile. In the whitness of a wing.
Enfin c’est l’adieu du parfum, Finally it’s the farewell of the essence,Oh! Fleurs oubliées des défunts Oh! Forgotten flowers of the deceased,senteur des asphodèles. scent of the asphodel.Poem by Irène Gayraud.

About me - Acerca de mim

Soprano Coloratura Mariana Alves was born in Portugal,1977. Started music studies with piano lessons at the age of 14 years and her voice studies at 16. Holds a MM and a Performance Certificate in Opera from SUNY Purchase, USA (2009). Undergraduate in Music Education, Aveiro University, Portugal (2006). Exchange music student at Cracow Academy, Poland (2003/4). Won several Portuguese regional music contests as a singer and as a composer between her 16th and 19th year. Participated in two Portuguese TV singing contests. Won the First Prize at the Young Singers Festival of Stª Mª da Feira, Portugal (2000). Recorded her first original music album “O Castelo-The Castle” in 2001. Was Awarded the Young Creators Scholarship by the Portuguese Institute of Youth and the National Portuguese Center for Culture in 2006 and 2007. Past role: The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, Aveiro/Vila do Conde,Portugal. She is a polyglot, writer, photographer,
composer, actress, voice teacher, Holistic Healing Master-Therapist. Mariana was Artist-in-Residence at New York Lyric Opera Theatre as well as Assistant Director and was part of the Alissa Grimaldi Studio Opera for Singers (NYC).